In this work and in "Incidents of Travel in Yucatan" (1843) author John Lloyd Stephens brings to life his discoveries, during expeditions between 1839 and 1842, of the ruined remains of the Maya civilization of Central America. His popular accounts are accompanied by engravings after watercolors made by his traveling companion, the English artist Frederick Catherwood, whose "Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan" (New York, 1844) remains a landmark of architectural illustration.